Council teams up for excellence awards
Three projects short-listed for COSLA honours
Three teams in South Lanarkshire Council are up for COSLA Excellence Awards.
The COSLA awards, which will take place virtually on February 25, aim to recognise great work across local government, and South Lanarkshire Council could scoop up three.
Delighted South Lanarkshire Council leader John Ross said: “Congratulations to all three teams in becoming finalists for these prestigious awards.
“It is recognition of the hard work and skills of the teams.
“I wish them every luck in their respective categories and hopefully we will be celebrating more success for South Lanarkshire.”
Council groups are up for the awards in three different categories, including: the Stronger Communities, Just Transition to a Net Zero Economy and Tackling Inequalities and Improving Health.
The Together We Can team are one of three finalists in the Tackling Inequalities and Improving Health category.
The team provides guidance for early years staff working with children aged 0-3.
It has been developed in line with the values, purpose and principles of the Curriculum for Excellence.
Together We Can recognises the important role parents and carers play in their child’s development and aims to build on previous experiences children have had at home or in pre-school settings through partnership working with professionals.
In the Stronger Communities category the council have a finalist for delivering gypsy/traveller services during the pandemic.
The two gypsy/traveller sites in South Lanarkshire are in East Kilbride and Larkhall, and they received support during lockdown.
Site officers maintained regular contact with both sites and worked closely with other council departments to ensure that the communities were safe and had access to the support and resources they needed.
Finally, in the Just Transition to a Net Zero Economy category, the council are finalists due to the creation of a network of local nature reserves.
The council has proposed to create a further 16 new nature reserves and recently sought public consultation from the public for two in Hamilton – Low Parks and Black Woods.
The chief executive of South Lanarkshire Council, Cleland Sneddon, also heaped praise on the teams who have been nominated for awards and said: “I am delighted that the work of the teams has been recognised in this way.
“As a council we have faced some very challenging times over the past couple of years because of the global pandemic, but being shortlisted for these awards shows how hard employees have been working during this period.”
It is recognition of the hard work and skills of the teams ... I wish them every luck